“We can control our destiny, or we can let the federal government control our destiny,” Rivers said.

Cody’s bill passed the House 67-29, and has been referred to the Senate Ways and Means committee. Rivers’ bill is expected to be up for a vote in the Senate soon.

Both bills would reduce the number of plants patients can grow, lower the possession limit, create a patient-recognition system and eliminate collective gardens, which allow multiple patients to grow a total of 45 marijuana plants in the same location together for medical use.

Recreational-marijuana stores would be able to apply for an optional medical endorsement, allowing them to sell to customers 18 and older who possess a valid patient-recognition card, and require the store to carry products appropropriate for medical use.

The Senate bill would provide those who possess a valid patient-recognition card a sales tax exemption, and retailers with an endorsement would be exempt from the 25 percent marijuana excise tax collected during transactions with customers.

Rivers said the state has to comply with federal mandates to avoid intervention. She said her bill is only a first step, and lawmakers can tweak the system later.

Washington voters legalized medical marijuana in 1998 with the passage of Initiative 692. Twenty other states, including the District of Columbia, have a medical-marijuana system in place.

Colorado’s medical-marijuana system was approved in 2000. Colorado allows medical dispensaries and recreational stores to operate separately, but they both require a license. Patients with qualifying medical conditions have to register with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to receive an identification card for legal access to medical marijuana.

The state Liquor Control Board, along with representatives from the departments of Health and Revenue, submitted a proposal to the legislature on how the two systems should interact, and recommended the unregulated medical-marijuana market be merged with the recreational-marijuana business.

The board’s proposed solution is being considered by the legislators, and drawing fire from some medical-marijuana advocates.

“We believe they can exist separately, and should,” said Americans for Safe Access spokesman Kris Hermes.

The group is a national organization aiming to advance safe and legal access to medical marijuana.

“Patients have different needs than those in adult-use community,” Hermes said.

The group has a state campaign called Health Before Happy Hour. The campaign opposes many of the provisions in the current legislation, and instead recommends a parallel set of regulations.

Hermes said he is concerned the recreational market will not provide the specific plants necessary to treat medical conditions, and won’t be affordable.

“It’s critically important to retain these programs,” he said.

Steve Sarich, the executive director for the Cannabis Action Coalition, a group lobbying for the rights of medical-marijuana patients, said they aren’t against some regulation, but they are opposed to the taxation of medicine.

He said the state is ignoring the needs of medical-marijuana patients in favor of more tax revenue.

He also said creating a patient registry will put patients’ confidentiality at risk, and leave them open to unfair discrimination by the government and law enforcement.

According to the Liquor Control Board, the price of marijuana will likely increase considerably compared to prices at medical dispensaries now, but the market should drive prices down eventually through competition.

The 25 percent excise tax on each step of the process — production, processing, and retail — is one reason prices are expected to spike.

Medical marijuana-dispensaries would have to close once state stores opened, unless they receive a marijuana retail license.

The board has limited the number of stores to 334, more than the 2,200 retail license applications they received. A retail license lottery will take place in the upcoming two weeks.